Poultry drinking fountain



March 24, 1936. F. E. BARTLETT POULTRY DRINKING FOUNTAIN Filed March'25, 1935 INVENTOR. f'hdawk (3. 73m

6M 5&7

ATTORNEY.

Patented Mar. 24, 1936 UETED STATS ATENT OFFICE POULTRY DRINKINGFOUNTAIN Frederick E. Bartlett, Modesto, Calif.

Application March 25, 1935, Serial No. 12,810

4 Claims. (01. 119-74) This invention relates to a sanitary drinkingsupplying water by a drip feed and in a manner fountain for poultry andthe like, and especially which prevents contamination and pollution.that type of fountain known as a drip fountain. The fountain consists ofa base member A having The object of the present invention is generallya pair of standards 2-2, one at each end thereof.

5 to improve and simplify the construction and Extending through t e ppends of the Standoperation of drinking fountains of the character ardsis a water supply pipe 3, the flow of water described; to provide adrinking fountain for to said pipe being controlled by a valve 4 orsimpoultry and the like that does not permit pollu ilar means. tion ofthe water by the beaks of the poultry or The supply pipe is providedwith a series of by wading in the water, or otherwise; to provide driprods, generally indicated at 5. An enlarged 1'. a drinking fountain forpoultry that will be ecoview of one of the drip rods is shown in Fig. 4.nomical in operation, insure a clean supply of It consists of a tube 6soldered, pressed, or otherfresh water and also control of the waterused; wise secured in the tube 3, and in this tube is to provide adrinking fountain in which the water placed a rod 1 having a head 8formed on the is applied to a grid imposed in a series of superupperend; the rod being nothing more or less 1:};

imposed parallel rods upon which the water drips than a rivet. from rodto red forming innumerable drops at The head of the rivet makes animperfect seat different elevations from which the individual withrelation to the upper end of the tube 6, by chicks may drink, said gridbeing of a height to roughening or otherwise, and the shank of theaccommodate poultry of varying size and age; to rivet is slightly lessin diameter than the interior provide a drinking fountain upon which thepoulof the tube 6; hence permitting a small amount try can not roost andwhich is self-cleaning; to of water to continuously leak out of thesupply provide a trough for catching and carrying away pipe 3 around thehead of the rivet and downwaste water, said trough being provided with awardly through the tube 6 where it will collect guard member to preventpoultry from wading 0n the lower ends of the members I in the formtherein or drinking therefrom; to provide a drinkof large drops. ingfountain which can be made in varying Mounted at each end of the supplypipe 3 is a lengths to insure an ample supply of water rehanger arm 9,see Figs. 1 and 3, and secured begardless of the number of poultry ineach yard tween said hanger arms are a series of parallel or run; and,further, to provide a drinking founsuperimposed rods l0, which will bereferred to 30 tain in which water is subjected to continuous as grid ordrip bars. The hanger arms are freeaeraticn and partial evaporation toinsure a cool 1y pivoted around the pipe 3 and as such will alwatersupply. ways assume a vertical position below the drip The drinkingfountain is shown by way of 11- rods 5, hence as the drops of water dripfrom lustration in the accompanying drawings, in the rods they will droponto the bars and conwhich tinue dripping from bar to bar, therebyforming Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the fountain; innumerable drops ofwater along the respective Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section taken online bars from which the chickens may drink.

IIII of Fig. 1; Any water escaping or dripping from the low- Fig. 3 isan enlarged end view, partially in secermost bar of the grid will entera trough II. 40 tion, of one of the hangers whereby the grid is Thistrough is provided with a V-shaped guard supported; said section beingtaken on line member l2, see Fig. 2, covering a drain pipe [3 IIIIII ofFig. 1; whereby any excess water dripping into the Fig. 4 is an enlargedvertical cross section trough will be carried away.

through one of the drip feed rods, said section The poultry coming up tothe fountain will 45 being taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 1. drink thedrops dripping from bar to bar. Each Where poultry are raisedextensively, it is comchick is thus supplied with clean water at all menpractice to have a watering trough in each times and the bars themselvesare kept clean by yard from which the poultry can drink. This the watercontinuously dripping over them, thus water becomes warm, because ofexposure to sun maintaining the grid in a clean, sanitary condi- 50 andair, and worst of all it becomes dirty, contion preventing pollution ofthe water or contaminated and polluted by the beaks of thechicktamination. ens drinking therefrom; and also due to the fact Thechickens can not drink out of the trough that the poultry often wade inthe water. because of the V-shaped guard member. The

The p s t v ntion emb die a ys em of water drains into the trough andgathers under 55 the V-shaped guard member l2 and flows directly to thedrain pipe I3 which carries it away.

If any of the drip rods 5 become clogged with sediment, or otherwise, itis only necessary for the caretaker to lift the rod by pushing upwardlythereon, as this will usually free the sediment and clean the rod. Anysand or sediment collecting in the feed pipe 3 can be flushed out as anopen stand pipe I4 is mounted at one end, hence by fully opening thevalve 4 and letting water flush through rapidly a discharge will be hadthrough the upper end of the pipe l4 and any sediment or sand collectedwill be quickly removed. Also by increasing or decreasing the height ofwater in the stand pipe I4 by opening or closing the valve d more orless, the drip from the members 5 can be increased or decreasedaccording to the head maintained in the pipe I4.

Due to the fact that the water drips from rod to rod of the grid, apartial evaporation takes place and cooling of the water is insured;also, it is obvious that the water is thoroughly aerated and that if anywind is blowing the cooling effect will be further increased. Byincreasing or decreasing the length of the device poultry in any numbercan be taken care of, hence making it suitable for yards or runs ofvarying size. Also, by providing the grid here disclosed it is possiblefor the smallest to the largest chicks to drink therefrom.

Sanitation in the operation of a fountain of this character is, ofcourse, paramount. Means must, accordingly, be provided for preventingthe poultry from roosting thereon, this being accomplished by providinga plate I6 which is pivotally mounted in the standards 2-2. Any chicktending to fly up and roost thereon will merely cause rotation of theplate I6, thereby preventing roosting. Wading in the trough isimpossible and drinking therefrom is also impossible, hence the onlysource of supply that the chickens can reach are the drips formed alongthe rods of the grid or at the ends of the rods. This supply is acontinuous flow and as such will always be cool and clean.

While certain features of the present invention are more or lessspecifically described, I wish it understood that various changes may beresorted to within the scope of the appended claims. Similarly, that thematerials and finish of the several parts employed may be such as themanufacturer may decide, or varying conditions or uses may demand.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:-

1. A drinking fountain of the characterdescribedcomprisingahorizontallydisposedfeedpipe, a plurality of dripfeed rods on said pipe, a grid disposed below the feed pipe and invertical alignment with the drip rods to receive drops of water from thedrip rods, said grid comprising a pair of arms pivotally hung from thefeed pipe and a plurality of horizontal spaced rods secured between saidarms, and means to regulate the flow of water to the drip valves.

2. A drinking fountain of the character described comprising anelongated trough, a pair of standards one at each end thereof, ahorizontally disposed feed pipe carried by the upper ends of thestandards, a plurality of drip feed rods on said pipe, a grid composedof horizontal spaced rods disposed below and in alignment with the driprods to receive the drops therefrom, means for regulating the flow ofwater to the drip rods, and means above the feed pipe to prevent fowlfrom perching thereon.

3. A drinking fountain of the character described comprising anelongated trough, a pair of standards one at each end thereof, a horizontally disposed feed pipe carried by the upper ends of the standards, aplurality of drip feed rods on said pipe, a grid composed of horizontalspaced rods disposed below and in alignment with the drip rods toreceive the drops therefrom, means .for regulating the flow of water tothe drip rods, and a uard member in the trough to prevent fowl fromdrinking water entering the trough. 4. In a drinking fountain of thecharacter described the combination with a drip feed pipe, of a griddisposed below the drip feed pipe to receive drops of water drippingtherefrom, said grid comprising a pair of pivotally supported arms and aplurality of horizontally disposed spaced rods secured between the arms.

FREDERICK E. BARTLETT.

